Charles B Rangel

Republicans are gleeful over the possibility that two prominent Democratic members of Congress, Reps. Charles B. Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, could face high-profile ethics "trials" this fall, just in time for the November elections. The party line was summed up on "Fox News Sunday" by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner: "[House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi said four years ago that it was time to drain the swamp…. But the fact is, she has not kept her promise.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel, whose 40 years in the House have come under a cloud because of an ethics scandal, announced Tuesday he has established a new defense fund to help pay off past legal expenses and to deal with pending and new complaints. Rangel (D-N.Y.) was censured by the House earlier this month for financial and fundraising misconduct and had to stand on the chamber’s floor to listen to Speaker Nancy Pelosi read the censure resolution, which passed 333-79. The new fund, called the Charles B. Rangel Legal Expense Trust, was approved by the House ethics committee, Rangel announced in a prepared statement.

It was 7 a.m. a week before the Democratic primary here, and Joyce Johnson already had spent two hours in her chartreuse Volkswagen bug delivering "Joyce Johnson for Congress" leaflets to campaign workers. A passerby peeked in the window and inquired, "Do you know where I can find Joyce Johnson?" "I am Joyce Johnson," she said. Joyce Johnson is not exactly a household name in the 15th Congressional District in northern Manhattan, yet the 62-year-old community activist, who has never won an election, has the unlikely endorsement of the powerful New York Times — and at least a shot at taking down a hero of Harlem and one of the great lions of Congress, Rep. Charles B. Rangel.

A House panel hearing ethics violation charges against New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel decided Monday to accept the prosecutor's evidence as uncontested after the Harlem Democrat walked out of the proceedings. Rangel's decision not to participate ? after arguing that it was unfair for him to face the charges without legal representation ? short-circuited what was expected to be a weeklong proceeding involving a dozen witnesses. Instead, after briefly considering and then rejecting a motion to delay, the eight-member panel of the House Ethics Committee decided to forgo witnesses and hear only the presentation of Blake Chisam, chief counsel for the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

A House panel hearing ethics violation charges against New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel decided Monday to accept the prosecutor's evidence as uncontested after the Harlem Democrat walked out of the proceedings. Rangel's decision not to participate ? after arguing that it was unfair for him to face the charges without legal representation ? short-circuited what was expected to be a weeklong proceeding involving a dozen witnesses. Instead, after briefly considering and then rejecting a motion to delay, the eight-member panel of the House Ethics Committee decided to forgo witnesses and hear only the presentation of Blake Chisam, chief counsel for the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Prominent Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Charles B. Rangel will face ethics trials after the November elections, the head of the House Ethics Committee announced Thursday, in what will be rare, back-to-back congressional proceedings. The trial for Waters (D-Los Angeles) will begin Nov. 29. The proceedings for Rangel (D-New York) are scheduled to begin Nov. 15. "After an investigation that has lasted over a year, I am eager to have the opportunity to clear my name," Waters said in a statement Thursday.

Former New York Mayor David N. Dinkins and two congressmen were among 14 people arrested as they protested last month's fatal police shooting of an unarmed West African immigrant. Reps. Charles B. Rangel and Gregory Meeks, both Democrats, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton, were part of those arrested at police headquarters and charged with criminal trespass. Police fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo on Feb. 4, hitting him 19 times.

The chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control said he will urge President Bush to promptly call a western hemispheric drug summit. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) rejected as unacceptable federal drug czar William J. Bennett's suggestion that the summit not be held until Bennett first draws up a national drug strategy. That plan, due in September, is to address education, treatment, law enforcement and interdiction.

The chairman and ranking Republican member of the House narcotics committee criticized Education Secretary William J. Bennett for not emphasizing the drug abuse issue in his proposal for a model high school curriculum. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), the chairman, said in a statement that Bennett "buried the drug issue, which students themselves say is the biggest problem facing young people today."

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics, charged that President Bush has failed to make the war on drugs a priority in the nation's foreign policy and has sown confusion among South American leaders. Fresh from a meeting in Ecuador with more than 200 officials from five Andean nations, the congressman said it was "embarrassing" to talk with his South American counterparts about the U.S. commitment to battling drugs.

Prominent Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Charles B. Rangel will face ethics trials after the November elections, the head of the House Ethics Committee announced Thursday, in what will be rare, back-to-back congressional proceedings. The trial for Waters (D-Los Angeles) will begin Nov. 29. The proceedings for Rangel (D-New York) are scheduled to begin Nov. 15. "After an investigation that has lasted over a year, I am eager to have the opportunity to clear my name," Waters said in a statement Thursday.

It was 7 a.m. a week before the Democratic primary here, and Joyce Johnson already had spent two hours in her chartreuse Volkswagen bug delivering "Joyce Johnson for Congress" leaflets to campaign workers. A passerby peeked in the window and inquired, "Do you know where I can find Joyce Johnson?" "I am Joyce Johnson," she said. Joyce Johnson is not exactly a household name in the 15th Congressional District in northern Manhattan, yet the 62-year-old community activist, who has never won an election, has the unlikely endorsement of the powerful New York Times — and at least a shot at taking down a hero of Harlem and one of the great lions of Congress, Rep. Charles B. Rangel.

Frustrated that the Ethics Committee does not plan to hear his case until September, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) took to the House floor Tuesday for an extraordinary personal appeal to expedite the process, saying he would not leave the chamber short of expulsion. "Don't leave me swinging in the wind," he said. "I deserve and demand a right to be heard. " The Harlem Democrat used a rare point of personal privilege to speak for more than half an hour during an emergency session intended to deal with aid to the states.

Republicans are gleeful over the possibility that two prominent Democratic members of Congress, Reps. Charles B. Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, could face high-profile ethics "trials" this fall, just in time for the November elections. The party line was summed up on "Fox News Sunday" by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner: "[House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi said four years ago that it was time to drain the swamp…. But the fact is, she has not kept her promise.

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank traces the hyper-partisan atmosphere of the nation today to -- wait for it -- the rise of Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1994. Gingrich was a driving force behind that year's so-called Republican Revolution that seized control of both houses of Congress with the "Contract With America" after the first two years of President Clinton's first term. Some Republicans hope for a repeat of that experience in this November's first midterm election for the Obama administration.

The other morning, while tourists were lining up for an early lunch at Sylvia's soul food restaurant in Harlem, Rodney Capel and Basil Smikle were finishing breakfast -- and dissecting the travails of the local political machine. Usually by now they'd be chewing over lists of Democrats eager to jump into primaries this fall and scoping out Republicans hinting at making a run. "But everything is in limbo, seized up," said Smikle, sipping his coffee. "It's just such a weird time."

William J. Bennett, the first director of the nation's war on drugs, went out with a bang Thursday, calling one congressional critic "a gas bag" and labeling the drug-plagued District of Columbia "a basket case." President Bush, in accepting Bennett's resignation at the White House, praised his leadership in the war against drugs and said that the nation "is on the road to victory" in that war.

Former New York Mayor David N. Dinkins and two congressmen were among 14 people arrested as they protested last month's fatal police shooting of an unarmed West African immigrant. Reps. Charles B. Rangel and Gregory Meeks, both Democrats, as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton, were part of those arrested at police headquarters and charged with criminal trespass. Police fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo on Feb. 4, hitting him 19 times.